Mooli/Muli Paratha - Daikon Flat Bread

Its been ages since I ate muli parathas. I visited the Asian store recently and found these large daikons there. That was irresistable and I bought one. In India I had always bought these white radishes also known as muli, mula in the local languages in a bunch, similar to carrots. I have only seen bunches of red radishes here though. Daikon is what comes closest to the white radish. It is not that pungent in taste and I have never seen it in bunches. Most often its really long and sold in pieces. We ate some raw with lemon and salt and I decided to make parathas with the rest of it. It was absolutely delicious.

Ingredients
1-2 white radishes or about 6 inch piece of daikon, grated
red chilli powder to taste
salt to taste
1 tsp ajwain/carom seeds
1 cup besan/gram flour
whole wheat flour - enough to knead the dough
2 tbsp oil
oil to cook
water to knead the dough

Method
Add a little salt to the grated daikon/radish. As soon as you do that, it will start releasing water. We want to knead the dough using this water. Additional water is not required. Add the carom seeds, chilli powder, salt to taste, 1.5 tsp oil and besan. Mix well. Then add enough wheat flour to be able to bring all the ingredients together and knead the flour. You may need around 1-1.5 cups. Add a little at a time. Once the mixture comes together in a dough, coat it with 1/2 tsp oil.
Then roll these out into 6-8 inch rounds. These should be a little thick, about 2-3 mm. Add a few drops of oil to your pan, cook it one one side for about a minute till it looks slightly cooked. Then flip it, add some oil around it and then cook it till the side is well cooked, indicated by light brown spots. This will take a little longer than the first side. Then flip it again, and cook it on the semi-cooked side, till that side is completely cooked.

Serve hot with butter, chutney or raita.

Tips
The daikon/radish will keep releasing water, so you may need to add a little wheat to the surface it's being rolled on so that it doesn't stick.

Tomato Bisque

This is inspired by Ina Garten's recipe. I made modifications to make it vegetarian, used ingredients that I generally have in my fridge and reduced the amount of oil and cream. The result was mouth watering. I had made a big batch, about forty servings for my daughter's birthday this year and it was a huge hit and was completely gone by the end of lunch. The recipe was requested by many, but I didn't have pictures. I made this a couple of weeks ago and took pictures, so now its ready to be added to the blog. This time around I added home made croutons. Croutons add just the right amount of crunch to this warm, filling soup. This is a perfect dish to make on cold fall nights. Pair it with a sandwhich and you have a quick, comforting dinner.

Ingredients
1 tbsp of oil
1/2 red onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 cup of fresh basil, chopped
4-5 tomatoes, diced
2 cups water or vegetable stock (I use water)
1/2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp heavy cream
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Method
Heat the oil, add the garlic and onions. Fry this till the onions turn pink and then add the carrots. Cook the carrots till they are tender, then add the tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes till they are tender, then add the basil, cook it for a couple of minutes and then add the water. Boil the water and then puree the soup. If the soup is too thick, add a little more water and boil further. Add salt to taste and some pepper. Turn off the heat and add the cream. Garnish with some basil. Top it with croutons and serve hot.

You can make this in the pressure cooker too. Follow the same directions above to add the vegetables to the cooker and after adding the water, pressure cook for 1-2 whistles or if using the Instant Pot, cook for 5 minutes on manual mode, high pressure and do natural pressure release.

Tips
If you don't have fresh tomatoes, and want to use canned ones, use the canned diced or entire tomatoes. Don't use the paste or pureed tomatoes as this has a very concentrated ketchup like flavor, which is not ideal for use in the bisque. You can increase the amount of cream to upto 1/4 cup if you want it to be very creamy.

Homemade Croutons - Freshly Baked

I enjoy making things at home. There is a different kind of satisfation to watch raw, basic ingredients come together and turn into something completely different and beautiful. This is true for any activity which provides a creative outlet. Be it cooking or making jewelry or painting, the list is endless.  So, whenever I have an opportunity to make something at home instead of buying it readymade, I try it out. I made tomato bisque recently and we had run out of croutons which are an absolute must, for this dish. So, instead of going to the store, I decided to make them at home. I had some home made bread and presto, I had delicious croutons ready in lesser time than it would have taken to go to the store.

Ingredients
4 - 5 slices of white bread, crusts cut off
1 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
1 tsp garlic powder (optional)

Method
Preheat the oven to 400F. Cut the slices into cubes, roughly about 3/4 by 1/2 inch rectangles, basically bite size rectangular pieces. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle the garlic powder and salt over these bread cubes. Mix it all together. Bake for about 10 minutes, till the bread is brown and has a toast like texture. Top your favorite soup with these freshly baked croutons.

Tips
You can skip the garlic powder if you want plain croutons. If you want Italian croutons, sprinkle Italian spice mix or if you want spicy croutons, add red pepper flakes. The options are endless.
Keep an eye on the croutons. Ovens vary in cooking time, based on how efficiently they retain heat, so it may brown fast or take additional time.

Strawberries and Cream, Absolutely Heavenly

This is one of the easiest, and most elegant desserts one can ever make. Good quality strawberries and a good presentation and you have the perfect sweet to end your dinner with. That too in a matter of minutes. And it is mainly fruit, so you won't feel too guilty eating your dessert either.

When I was in India, we rarely used to get strawberries. It was a seasonal fruit and not available in large quantities and could be classified as exotic perhaps. There was a restaurant in town which did have it on their menu as a seasonal dessert and I used to always choose it. They used to have the most beautiful presentation in a margharita glass, absolutely delicious. The only other place I had it was in Mahabaleshwar, a tourist destination famous for its strawberry farms.

Strawberries are easily found here and this year due to the bumper crop, they are still available at a very low cost. Surprisingly though I don't remember having seen it on a restaurant menu here. I bought some strawberries last weekend and I also had a pint of heavy cream in the fridge. That was the perfect reason to put this dish together. The pictures turned out so beautiful, that I had to push this one to the front of my recipe queue, so that I could share this wonderful dish and lovely pictures with you.

Ingredients
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp powdered sugar ( do not use confectioner's sugar -see tips)
7-8 strawberries, washed and sliced (along the vertical axis/length)

Method
Chill your whisk (manual whisk/hand blender) and the bowl in the fridge for a few minutes. Add the cream and sugar to the chilled bowl and whip. Do not overwhip. You know it is the right consistency, when the peaks in the cream do not deflate immediately. If you overwhip, the cream will turn to butter. If this happens, start with fresh cream.
Arrange your sliced strawberries in your favorite dessert bowl. Add cream. You can mix a few strawberries in the cream and then arrange the rest on top. You can be as creative as you want. Enjoy!

Tips
Confectioner's sugar contains cornstarch in addition to the sugar, so try to avoid it so that it won't affect the taste. If it's difficult to find it in your grocery store, you can grind regular sugar in the mixer/blender to get the powdered sugar.

Batatyachi Bhaaji - Curried Potatoes with Ginger

This is possibly one of the simplest but tastiest potato preparations. It demonstrates the basic principles of cooking any vegetable in an Indian style. A basic "seasoning" or "tadka", followed by the addition of vegetables. And then you can choose to add any spices if you want. This was the very first recipe I made when I learnt how to cook. I remember standing at my mom's elbow and walking through the steps with her. It seemed like a lot to remember at that age (I was about 10 years old) but once you know how to create the initial seasoning, you have learnt the basic principle for Indian cooking and can cook practically any dish.

This potato curry is a very popular dish and is generally made for traditional Maharashtrian lunches or dinners. Since garlic and onions are not used in the dish, this is a popular choice during traditional and religious events. I really love the taste of this dish and make it whenever I want to eat food that takes me back home.
 

Ingredients
3-4 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled and chopped into cubes
1 tsp ginger and green chilli paste
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard/rai seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of asafoetida
5-6 curry leaves (optional)
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1/2 tsp sugar
cilantro to garnish, chopped

Method
Coat the boiled, cubed potatoes with the chilli and ginger paste mixture, add some salt and the sugar. Mix well and set aside. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the mustard and cumin seeds. Once they start to crackle, add the asafoetida, curry leaves, turmeric. Stir and add the potatoes. Cook this for a a few minutes. Turn off the heat. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with hot chapatis.

Tips
If you pressure cook the potatoes, be careful to take it off the heat after the time required to cook them in your pressure cooker, do not over cook them, else you will end up with mushy potatoes. To make ginger and chilli paste, grind 1 inch of ginger with 2-3 green chillies and a couple of pinches of salt. You can reduce the number of chillies depending on spicy you want your curry to be. Boiled potatoes should not be rinsed with cold water to cool them down. Just drain the water, and keep them aside to cool down before cutting. If they are rinsed in cold water, it may make them mushy, specially if they have been slightly overcooked.

Pohe - The Perfect Breakfast Food

This is possibly one of the most popular breakfast items made in India. It is made quite frequently back home and we enjoy it a lot. There are many different recipe variations to make pohe found in various regions in India. Its probably as diverse as the different number of dialects, which is a very large number. The few names that its referred to are "batata poha", "bataka poha", "kanda pohe" and oh so many more. I remember getting off a bus once and seeing a small crowd of people enjoying a hot plate of pohe with some hot chai. Truly there is nothing more appetizing than a hot plate of pohe for breakfast.

The recipe below is inspired by my sister-in-law's preparation method. The use of fennel seeds and peanuts makes it delicious. Pair it with a cup of hot tea and enjoy your breakfast.

Ingredients
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel/saunf/badishep seeds
pinch of asafoetida
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
1-2 green chillies (to taste)
1 medium onion, diced
5-6 curry leaves (optional)
1/4 cup peas, shelled (frozen or fresh). If frozen, rinse them and set aside
2-3 tbsp peanuts
1.5 cups pohe (pressed rice)
salt to taste
cilantro for garnish
lemon/lime slices to serve with

Method
Wash the pohe and set aside. The easiest way to do this is to take the pohe in a sieve or a colander, pour some water and let it drain away. Stir the pohe around to ensure that some of it doesn't remain dry. In a big pan, heat the oil. To this add the mustard and cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add the fennel seeds, asafoetida, turmeric powder, curry leaves, green chillies and onions. Cook the onions till the onion is cooked through. You can cook it till its transluscent or a little browned. The taste will vary a bit based on how long the onion has been cooked for. Do not brown it though. Then add the peanuts, stir for a couple of minutes. Then add the peas, cook for a minute. Add the pohe, stir and cook for a few minutes. The pohe should be damp when you add them to the pan. If they have dried out, add a little water to the pohe. Serve hot. Garnish with cilantro and serve a slice of lemon with the pohe. Addition of a little lime/lemon juice enhances the taste.

Tips
Add the salt and mix it into the pohe, itself before adding into the pan. This will ensure that the salt is mixed well throughout and some parts of it don't remain unseasoned.